Mass. poet brings acclaim to 17th century martyr Mary Dyer

Outside the State House in Boston, a statue of Mary Dyer, a martyr for religious freedom, captured the attention of Helen Marie Casey.

Kathy Uek

Outside the State House in Boston, a statue of Mary Dyer, a martyr for religious freedom, captured the attention of Helen Marie Casey.

"I questioned how it could be possible that she was hanged and later a statue was erected for her," said Casey as she recalled seeing the statue for the first time in 1984.

Interested in learning more, Casey began researching, reading and writing poetry and discovered a brave young woman hanged in 1660 because she was a Quaker.

"They only allowed the Puritan religion in the Massachusetts Bay Colony at that time," said Casey.

Twenty-three years after first seeing the statue, Casey was recently named a finalist for the 2008 Julia Ward Howe Award for her collection of poems about Mary Dyer, "Inconsiderate Madness."

She learned about the tribute from the Boston Authors Club while in Bordeaux, France researching work on Joan of Arc.

Casey’s research included the state archives where she found documents including a preserved letter from Dyer’s husband, William, pleading the court not to hang her. In the letter, Dyer’s husband, begged the court to consider her "inconsiderate madness," from which Casey took the title for her book of poems.

Casey’s research continued on to Vintage Books in Hopkinton, which specializes on the subject of Quaker heritage.

"The owners are Quakers themselves and helped me find invaluable materials and provided encouragement in pursuing the subject of Mary Dyer and her story," said Casey.

In a 17th century text at Vintage Books, Casey found reprinted letters written by Dyer. She learned after Dyer’s sea captain son pleaded for his mother’s life, she was reprieved in 1659.

"She was allowed to live in Rhode Island and told never to return to Boston," said Casey. "She so vehemently objected to the ongoing persecution of Quakers, she returned."

In the rare books room of the British Library, Casey read documents, said to have been composed by John Winthrop, governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Winthrop said Dyer’s stillborn baby was a reflection of God’s displeasure with her ill-conceived religious views, said Casey.

"It was so hard to believe in a community such as Boston that settlers would ostracize their own neighbors," said Casey.

As the Sudbury resident immersed herself in research, she began to feel she had a sense of the time, how New England looked and felt, where Dyer had walked and the tree from which she was hanged.

"I read in old journals how difficult it was to live in that time when it was a new land and where women’s roles and their place had yet to be clearly established," said Casey. "For me Mary Dyer is one of America’s most fascinating figures. Because of her courage. At a time when woman had little standing, she dared to defy men of power."

Casey’s book shelves filled with 17th century books, lend credence to her extensive research to ensure historical accuracy.

Casey’s book begins with the poem, "New World" which tells about Dyer, who came from England in the mid 1630s to enjoy religious freedom. Casey imagined Dyer standing on the shares of Boston filed with hope and love of God.

"The poem includes foreboding about the death that will come," said Casey. In another poem, entitled "To the Gallows," Casey used the words of a bystander, who watched Dyer hang.

With poetic license Casey took his words: "Let her hang there as a flag for others," and gave them to Dyer as she imagined her standing at the gallows saying: "I shall hang there - a flag for others to take example by."

After Casey wrote her poems, she tested them in various workshops where members told her how moving they were. Individual poems were also published in journals including Windhover, Dogwood, and Louisiana Literature.

Just as the Dyer statue sculpted by Sylvia Shaw Judson inspired Casey. Her poems inspired a composer. The composer Lynn Petersen, who performs at the piano, linked together seven of her poems to create a song cycle called, "Mary Dyer, Martyr." In each performance Kimberly Gratland James, mezzo-soprano, sang the seven songs.

Petersen told Casey how the story spoke to her as did the imagery within the individual poems. "She was able to visualize early New England and felt inhabited by Mary Dyer so that she could then take the language phrase by phrase and create music that reflects drama, the darkness and the hope of Mary Dyer that came from her deep faith in God," said Casey. "It was a rewarding collaboration for both of us. We respected the differences in our separate disciplines."

Because book stores are often reluctant to give floor space to less well-known poets, in 2005 Casey entered a competition with the Black Lawrence Press and won first place, which included publication.

Casey’s newest work is a series of family poems called "Home Again."

Because of her great interest in Sudbury’s Florence Hosmer, Casey is creating essays from the letters Hosmer left in her home and hopes they will lead to a small biography.

Casey majored in English and French and did her doctoral work in literary studies. Married for almost 44 years, and formerly a columnist for the MetroWest Daily News, she has four children and 11 grandchildren.

Active in Sudbury, previously she was president of the League of Women Voters, a member of the Finance Committee and on the board of the Learning Center for the Deaf in Framingham.

The award ceremony at the Boston Public Library on May 15 will include winners of the Julia Ward Award. Barnes & Noble Booksellers will sponsor a book signing and Casey will speak about "Inconsiderate Madness.

"It’s thrilling to have my poetry honored and give Mary Dyer more acclaim," said Casey.

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